How to Make Homemade Ghee

I LOVE butter.

It should really be it’s own food group. I’d vote for that.

Unfortunately, butter has received a bad reputation over the years with the ‘fat is bad’ argument. If that’s you, or you believe there’s too many calories in butter, watch my interview on fat: why its good and why we need it.

BUTTER VS. CLARIFIED BUTTER VS. GHEE

Regular butteris made up of butterfat, milk solids, and water.Clarified butteris the translucent golden butterfat left over after the milk solids and water are removed through heating. It’s really just pure butterfat. (Why would you want anything else?!) It has a higher smoke point than regular butter, which allows for higher cooking temperatures. Gheeis clarified butter that has been cookedlongerto remove all the water and to brown (or caramelize) the milk solids, which you can see in my picture below. They are then strained out. This gives ghee a rich nutty taste. Ghee has a longer shelf life, both refrigerated and at room temperature.

WHY I MAKE GHEE

I love butter. (But choose to remove the milk solids for purposes of omitting dairy).

The smell is indescribably, intoxicatingly magical.

I like to cook.

See number one.

USING YOUR GHEE

Use it anywhere you’d use butter. (Everywhere.) You can heat ghee higher than regular butter making it great for sauteing and pan frying.

TO MAKE THIS RECIPE YOU WILL NEED

butter

a pot

a strainer or cheesecloth

a mason jar (or air tight container)

patience

Now, here’s how to make ghee…

Servings



4

Ingredients

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unsalted butter

Instructions

1. Place the butter (as much as you want) in a pot on the stove. NOTE: 1 pound of butter equals about 1 1/2 cups clarified butter or ghee.

2. Turn the heat setting to the LOWEST possible setting on your stove.

3. Let it go! Allow the butter to melt and ultimately separate on its own for 1-2 hours (depending on your stove setting).

4. No need to even stir. After about 20 minutes, it will look like this:

8. Pour your ghee into an airtight container like a Mason jar. You can store your ghee in or out of the fridge. NOTE: Ghee out of the fridge will last 6 months!

5. If you stop here, you can separate the milk solids on top and be left with clarified butter.

6. If you keep going another 40 or so minutes, the clarified butter will begin to darken in color and the milk solids will begin to brown or caramelize. NOTE: You’ll likely hear cracking and popping noises. That’s OK. That is the water boiling off. Let it be.